The Virginia Tech National Security Institute (VTNSI) was formed in 2021 with the aspiration to become the nation’s preeminent academic organization at the nexus of interdisciplinary research, technology, policy, and talent development to advance national security. The Institute grew from the Hume Center, which was launched in 2010 thanks to an endowment from Ted and Karyn Hume. VTNSI is a national leader in advancing security and resilience through innovative and applied research, empowering the next generation of experts, and building strategic alliances to address evolving national security challenges. We bring together exceptional interdisciplinary faculty, unique research infrastructure, and deep partnerships with industry and government sponsors to execute impactful research and development.
The Spectrum Dominance Division has an opening for a Research Associate or Research Scientist at its office in Blacksburg, Virginia. The Spectrum Dominance Division (SDD) within VTNSI is home to 30 full-time faculty researchers with focus areas in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, and applied mathematics. SDD’s portfolio reaches across all aspects of the radio frequency transmit/receive chain, including antenna and phased array design, baseband waveform design, and receiver design. SDD houses domain expertise in SDR development, AI/ML applied to the radio frequency (RF) spectrum (i.e., RFML), SIGINT, RADAR, cellular, electromagnetic materials, cognitive radio, and additive manufacturing. The hiring rank of this position will be based on the candidates' background and experience.
While engaging in cutting-edge RF research, SDD has a particular focus on TRL 3-6 R&D, acting as the bridge from fundamental research on campus to prototypes for government and commercial sponsors. A particular strength is real-time RF system development leveraging in-house FPGA, GPU, and SDR platforms. Importantly, SDD has successfully transitioned multiple capabilities for real-time RF machine learning, automotive cybersecurity, and radar threat warning models.
Validation of SDD products is accomplished in VTNSI’s state-of-the-art 5,000 sq. ft. of wireless testing and lab spaces as well as the Counter-UAS Testing and Research Center (CTRC), between them housing SDR testbeds, two RF anechoic chambers, and high-end measurement equipment (e.g. spectrum analyzers, vector network analyzers, etc.) supporting bands up to 110 GHz. These capabilities complement a nearly $10M investment in secure computing infrastructure, housing expansive GPU and CPU clusters.
Motivated applicants are sought to help support SDD’s rapid portfolio growth in our radio frequency portfolio and will be expected to:
• Support radio frequency software/hardware development (based on background and/or interests) on 2-3 simultaneous team-based research efforts.
• Support project internal communications and milestones through oral/written status updates and/or code review.
• Support project final deliverables through code documentation, user guides, final reports, and/or academic publications.
• Have flexibility and adaptability to work on different radio frequency application areas such as signals intelligence, waveform design, RADAR, electromagnetics, cellular, etc. (depending on current division project portfolio).
• Have a willingness to engage with sponsors through occasional oral briefings and demonstrations, virtually and occasional travel to sponsor sites.
This is an open-rank search with the Research Professional track. Final rank level and job duties will be determined based on the candidate’s background, skills and experience.